Other surveys draw on the characteristics of pathological gambling, now called ‘gam- bling disorder’ in DSM-V, which also bears a resemblance to the kind of behavior we see in students who show problematic Internet use. Again, the surveys often simply swap the words ‘Internet use’ for ‘gambling’.
Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire, for exam- ple, contains eight yes-or-no items drawn directly from the criteria used to identify pathological gamblers.
One question asks: “Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?” Another asks, “Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?” This survey was later expanded to a 20-item questionnaire, called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) with a five-point scale so that subjects could indi- cate the extent to which they engage in behaviors that suggest addiction. For most Other surveys draw on the characteristics of pathological gambling,now called ‘gam- bling disorder’ in DSM-V, which also bears a resemblance to the kind of behavior we see in students who show problematic Internet use. Again, the surveys often simply swap the words ‘Internet use’ for ‘gambling’. Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire, for exam- ple, contains eight yes-or-no items drawn directly from the criteria used to identify pathological gamblers. One question asks: “Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?” Another asks, “Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?” This survey was later expanded to a 20-item questionnaire, called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) with a five-point scale so that subjects could indi- cate the extent to which they engage in behaviors that suggest addiction. For most of the surveys, researchers have established cutoff scores to categorize respondents as either normal Internet users, or as addicted to at least some degree.
With so many different measures in place —not just to identify different characteris- tics, but also to adapt the surveys to differ- ent cultures—it is hardly surprising that prevalence rates vary so much. A single individual might be classified as addicted in one study and normal in another, depending on the survey used.